My name is Atmanzay Shahzadah.
INTERVIEWED BY Ethan Marcus


DEPARTED FROM
Kyiv, Ukraine

ARRIVED IN
Chicago, Illinois

YEAR
1997

AGE
23

NOW LIVES IN
Buffalo Grove, Illinois

ATMANZAY SHAHZADAH'S FIRST DAY

TRANSCRIPT

From what you can remember from your first day in the US when you were 23 at Chicago O'Hare in the city of Chicago, what can you tell me? What do you remember? How did you feel?

It was a completely different experience. Big city, with a lot of people. I got used to it. There was a long line getting through immigration. It took me long hours. Friends picked me up from the airport. I have been here 30 years now. You would think I would remember. It took me too long to get out of the airport.

When you left the airport, do you remember what you did and where you went?
When I left the airport, it was very late and my friends were outside waiting to meet me. When we left, we went to the city. We got out there and the friends and everybody were there to meet us. We met my wife's family. We met the neighbors. They were the same. They were here 2 or 3 years before us. We met who was there and had dinner.

If you had to classify this day as a hard day or easy day, how would you classify it? Was it an easy day? A hard day? How did it feel?
The first day was easy. Later on it got harder. You know you get homesick from your home country. I think later on about a month or so. The first day it was very exciting. I was happy to move here I think. That's what I remember.


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